A songwriter who worked with Madonna has revealed how she reacted when he told her to “fuck off” during a studio session.
Toby Gad, who co-wrote 11 songs with Madonna on her 2014 album Rebel Heart, recalled what happened during a tense moment between them in the studio.
Speaking to MailOnline, he said: “Madonna is an incredible artist and her stage shows are incredible. She’s an icon, but as far as the vocals go, I thought maybe we could expand it a bit more.”
“I mean, I’ve worked with some amazing singers and I felt like maybe Madonna could improve her performance a little bit.
‘So I kept telling him: do it again and try to feel it more and try it again and again; maybe just put more passion into it and so on.
A songwriter who worked with Madonna has revealed how she reacted when he told her to “fuck off” during a studio session
Toby Gad (pictured), who co-wrote 11 songs with Madonna on her 2014 album Rebel Heart, recalled what happened during a tense moment between them in the studio.
The writer said he heard a rumor that Madonna dismisses people by announcing she is going to the bathroom and then her assistant takes the artist aside and tells her she has been fired.
Toby, worried that the same thing might happen to him, added: “At one point she said to me: ‘Fuck you, Toby. I’m not singing this again.'”
“And I instinctively said, ‘Fuck you, Madonna, you’re singing this again. ‘ And then the room went quiet and I was waiting for her to go to the bathroom.
“And that didn’t happen and we somehow bonded over this and spent another five weeks together in total.”
Toby met Madonna at a writing camp and described coming face to face with the Queen of Pop as an “intimidating” experience.
He said: ‘I did a writing camp with Madonna in New York and on the first day she showed up.
‘You don’t know if she’s going to show up or not and then her assistant comes in and starts tidying things up and brings in incense candles and lights them everywhere.
“Then the bathroom is closed and you have to use the one downstairs, so that’s all the real preparation. Finally, the lights dim and then she comes in.
The writer said he heard a rumor that Madonna fires people by announcing she’s going to the bathroom and then her assistant takes the artist aside and tells her she’s been fired.
Toby added: ‘At one point she said, ‘Fuck you, Toby. I’m not singing this again. ‘ And I instinctively said, ‘Fuck you, Madonna, you’re going to sing this again. ‘
Toby was speaking as he launched his new album ‘Piano Diaries – The Hits’, which features new versions of some of the biggest songs he has co-written (Toby pictured with Celina Sharma)
“It’s intimidating at first, but we spent a week together and recorded some songs and I was pretty honest with her.”
He added: “There were rumours that if you made her angry, if you did something she didn’t like or said something she didn’t like, then she would go to the bathroom and then her assistant would come out and say, ‘Here’s your ticket home and the taxi is waiting for you downstairs. You have five minutes to vacate the premises. She doesn’t want to see you when she comes back.'”
“We were all a little nervous but fortunately that didn’t happen to us.”
MailOnline has contacted Madonna’s representatives for comment.
Toby was speaking as he launched his new album ‘Piano Diaries – The Hits’, which features new versions of some of the biggest songs he’s co-written including Beyoncé’s ‘If I Were A Boy’, Fergie’s ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ and John Legend’s ‘All Of Me’.
She has teamed up on the album with rising stars Celina Sharma, Keke Palmer and Angelina Jordan, as well as X Factor winner Louisa Johnson to cover songs.